Linux Foundation Scholarship Recipient: Eduardo Mayorga Téllez

The Linux Foundation regularly awards scholarships as part of its Linux Training Scholarship Program -- totaling more than $100,000 in free training over the past 5 years. In this continuing series, we talk with recent scholarship recipients and share their stories with the hope of inspiring others.

Apply by June 30 for a 2016 Linux Foundation Training (LiFT) Scholarship.Learn more.

Eduardo Mayorga Téllez, a Teens in Training scholarship recipient, is 17 and lives in Nicaragua. He plans to become a Linux kernel developer and use his knowledge of device drivers to help Linux support the most hardware possible. He says he often hears classmates and colleagues argue that Linux is not suitable for them because they cannot make the most of their hardware. Eduardo says he will change that.

How did you become interested in Linux and open source?

Just a few years after I used my first computer (around 12 years ago), the technical guy who helped fix my computers told me that I should try out a different operating system. He noted my general interest in computers and, of course, I was open to new experiences.

I was excited about Linux being highly customizable and well suited for programmers.

What Linux Foundation course do you plan to take with your scholarship?

I aim to become a kernel developer, and I plan to contribute to the kernel upstream. To work in such an important and big project with so many talented people is just appealing, so I want to be part of it.

What are your career goals? How do you see a Linux Foundation course helping you achieve those goals?

I want to do academic research in the field of theoretical computer science, specifically Formal Hardware Verification. I initially thought of kernel hacking as a hobby. However, I then realized training on Linux device drivers would give me a better understanding of the interaction between hardware and software. So, the benefit is not necessarily direct, but complements other knowledge I'll get in the future.

What other hobbies or projects are you involved in? Do you participate in any open source projects at this time?

I am involved in another big community: OpenStreetMap. I like maps and geodata. I also maintain several Fedora packages, some of them being related to GIS.